My son has always been a bit fear-averse. As a toddler, he would work himself into a lather when my husband pretended to be a monster and chased him and his sister. He?s never liked TV shows that trade on fear, and even today, at eight years old, he feels uneasy during creepy parts of Harry Potter movies. If he plays a scary video game, falling asleep at night becomes mission impossible.
In other words: He’s just like me.
My daughter, on the other hand, is the exact opposite. When she was four, The Water Horse was on TV and I let her watch it before realizing the water horse grows up to be quite terrifying. I expected her to have trouble falling asleep that night or to wake up with nightmares, but she was entirely unbothered. As she got a bit older, she kept asking to watch scary shows, visit haunted houses and play suspenseful games. She likes getting scared. Whose child is this"!
It’s OK that we’re different, but I find myself struggling to figure out what to let her watch and experience, and what to deem too scary and off-limits. Can scary stuff traumatize kids" And also, what does it say about a child’s personality when they’re super into the dark stuff from an early age"
Should kids be allowed to watch scary movies"
A bit of spookiness is one thing, but how scary is too scary" The internet can’t give you the final answer here, because experts say you shouldn’t decide by ratings or reviews alone. ?A lot...